Chinese authorities curb 'Jasmine rallies' in Shanghai and Beijing

For the second Sunday in a row, an unspecified number of mass gatherings were anonymously called across China to protest against the government and some of its policies. The response of the authorities was swift.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

Police arrest a man after calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" protest, organised through the internet, in front of the Peace Cinema in downtown Shanghai, China on Feb. 27. An online call for anti-government protests across China on Sunday instead brought an emphatic show of force by police determined to deter any buds of the kind of unrest that has shaken the Middle East. Lines of police checked passers-by and warned away foreign photojournalists in downtown Beijing and Shanghai after a U.S.-based Chinese website spread calls for Chinese people to emulate the "Jasmine Revolution" sweeping the Middle East and stage gatherings in support of democratic change.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

Police arrest two men after calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" protest, organised through the internet, in front of the Peace Cinema in downtown Shanghai on Feb. 27.